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White Pine Gold Mine

Producer in White Pine county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc, Arsenic, Antimony, Mercury, Bismuth, Tellurium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310407
Record type Site
Current site name White Pine Gold Mine
Alternate or previous names A-1 deposit, A-2 deposit, A-3 deposit, A-4 deposit, A-5 deposit

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.4985, 39.99777 (WGS84)
Relative position The deposit is located about 60 miles northwest of Ely, Nevada and 60 miles southeast of Elko, Nevada.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

White Pine(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Tognini Spring(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Newark Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ely(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Long-Ruby Valleys(hydrologic unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management NV)

Bureau of Land Management NV BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada White Pine

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 024N 057E 36 Nevada
Mount Diablo 025N 058E 31 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The White Pine gold project is located at the northern end of the Bald Mountain-Alligator Ridge mineralized area.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Copper Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary
Bismuth Critical Tertiary
Tellurium Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: gold, tellurides
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, pyrite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Telluride Ore
Quartz Gangue
Pyrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification, argillization, and potassic alteration have affected the host rocks. The main alteration feature is the large halo of silicification and strong argillization. Potassic alteration is recognized at depth.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 75
USGS model code 19c
Deposit model name Distal disseminated Ag-Au
Mark3 model number 18

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock type qualifier calcareous
    Rock unit name Pilot Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Late Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock type qualifier dark gray
    Rock unit name Pilot Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Late Devonian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock type qualifier quartz phenocryst
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Bald Mountain Stock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Chronological age 159

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.4985, 39.99777
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description The dominant structural trend is N45W, but there are NE, N-S, and E-W-trending structures as well. The E-W structures show the youngest period of movement, some of which is post-ore.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Mineralization is structurally controlled. The dominant structural trend is N45W, but there are NE, N-S, and E-W-trending structures as well. The E-W structures show the youngest period of movement, some of which is post-ore.

Comments on the geologic information

  • The host rocks are calcareous shales and dark gray limestones of the Pilot Shale which weather to iron-oxide stained red-brown-maroon and tan colors. A granitic intrusive with quartz phenocrysts and oxidized pyrite was noted in drill road cuts.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1987
Year of first production 1989
Year of last production 1990
Production years 1989-1990

Mining district

District name Bald Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Ely BLM district

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Western States Minerals Corp.
    Year 1997

Comments on the workings information

  • The mine was developed by open pit methods with recovery by heap leaching.

Comments on other economic factors

  • In 1989 reserves were reported as 63,000 ounces of gold in ore grading 0.04 ounces per ton.

    Production 1989-91: 20.92 M lbs Zn, 1.058 M lbs Cu, 1.835 M lbs Pb, 100,604 oz Ag, 75,343 lbs Cd

    From 1988 to1990 the mine produced 30,193 ounces of gold and 921 ounces of silver from 927,000 short tons of ore (Long and others, 1998). Total production through closure in 1993 exceeded 60,000 ounces of gold. No data is yet available (1998) on tonnage and grade of remaining resources.

Comments on development

  • The White Pine deposit was discovered before 1987. Mining began in 1988 and continued through 1993. In 1995, renewed exploration activity in the previously mined area identified several mineralized zones as having significant exploration potential the zones were drilled under a joint-venture agreement between Homestake Mining Co. and Western States Minerals Corp. The property was later dropped by Homestake.
    U. S. Gold (1988); Western States (1996) operated by White Pine Gold Mining Company (1988);
    a joint-venture between Homestake Mining Co. and Western States Minerals Corp.(1995)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Hose, Blake, and Smith, 1976, Geology and Mineral Resources of White Pine County, Nevada, NBMG Bulletin 85.

  • Deposit

    Hill, J. M., 1916, Notes on some Mining Districts in Eastern Nevada, USGS Bull. 648, P. 152-161.

  • Deposit

    Dean, D. A., Benedetto, K. M. F., Durgin, D. C., 1991, Part Two: Ely - Bald Mountain - Ely Road Log, in Buffa, R. and Coyner, A., Eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, P. 136-162.

  • Deposit

    Lowe, N. T., Raney, R. G., and Norberg, J. R., Principal Deposits of Strategic and Critical Minerals in Nevada, USBM Information Circular 9035, p. 75.

  • Deposit

    A Study of Active U. S. Gold Mines, July, 1986, Metals Economics Group, Boulder, Co, p. 288-291.

  • Deposit

    Placer Dome Inc., Annual Report For 1987.

  • Deposit

    Placer Dome Inc., Annual Report for 1988.

  • Deposit

    Placer Dome Inc., Annual Report For 1989.

  • Deposit

    Placer Dome Inc., Annual Report for 1990.

  • Deposit

    Bonham, H., Bentz, J., and Smith, P., 1981, Field Examination, June 28, 1981.

  • Deposit

    NBMG, 1982, Open File Report 82-9.

  • Deposit

    Pay Dirt, Oct, 1982.

  • Deposit

    Nevada Mining Association Bulletin, 1983.

  • Deposit

    Division of Mine Inspection, 1983, Directory of Nevada Mining Operations Active During Calendar Year 1983.

  • Deposit

    Jones and Papke, 1984, Active Mines and Oil Fields in Nevada - 1983, NBMG Map M84.

  • Deposit

    NBMG, 1994, MIi-1993

  • Deposit

    Homestake Mining Co. press release,10/6/95

  • Deposit

    Denver Mining Record, 10/11/95

  • Deposit

    Northern Miner, 10/30/95

  • Deposit

    NBMG MI-1987-NBMG MI-1997, The Nevada Mineral Industry, 1987-1997

  • Deposit

    US Gold 1989-90 SEC Form 10K

  • Deposit

    Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-206A, 33 p.; 98-206B. one 3.5 inch diskette.

  • Deposit

    Nutt, C.J., Hofstra, A.H., Hart, K.S., and Mortensen, J.K., 2000, Structural setting and genesis of gold deposits in the Bald Mountain-Alligator Ridge area, east-central Nevada, in Cluer, J.K., Price, J.G., Struhsacker, E.M., Hardyman, R.F., and Morris, C.L., eds., Geology and Ore Deposits 2000: The Great Basin and Beyond: Geological Society of Nevada Symposium Proceedings, May 15-18, 2000, p. 513-537.

  • Deposit

    Hitchborn and others, 1996, Geology and Gold Deposits of the Bald Mountain Mining District, White Pine County, Nevada, in Geology and Ore Deposits of the American Cordillera Symposium Proceedings, eds. A. Coyner and P. Fahey.

  • Deposit

    The Geological Society of Nevada 1996 Spring Field trip, Geology and Gold Deposits of Eastern Nevada, GSN Special Publication No. 23.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The White Pine deposits are localized along the edges of folds.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-2004 LaPointe, D.D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Editor 01-SEP-2007 Schruben, Paul G. U.S. Geological Survey Converted from S&A FileMaker format to Oracle. Edit checks on rocks, units, and ages with Geolex search, and other fields.

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.